Akshay Kumar’s horror-thriller Haiwaan has opened to lukewarm reviews and a Haiwaan box office collection that reportedly hasn’t crossed Rs 50 lakh on day one, according to early trade estimates. Critics are calling the film slow-burn to a fault, with several reviews noting it “takes too long to thrill.” The film is also fighting for screen space against two bigger theatrical draws releasing the same week.
Key Takeaways
- Haiwaan opened this week starring Akshay Kumar in a horror-thriller setup, but early reviews flag pacing issues.
- Trade reports suggest the opening-day Haiwaan box office number is struggling to even touch Rs 50 lakh nett.
- The film is clashing with Mirzapur: The Movie and Hanuman Ansh, leaving single screens short on show slots.
- Exhibitors are reportedly favouring the bigger titles, squeezing Haiwaan’s already thin screen count further.
What Is Haiwaan About?
Haiwaan is pitched as a horror-thriller built around a small-town setting where an unexplained presence starts picking off residents one by one. Akshay Kumar plays the outsider figure trying to get to the bottom of it before the body count climbs. On paper, it’s a familiar template — Bollywood has leaned on the “mysterious force terrorising a village” plot more than once this decade.
The trouble, per the first wave of reviews, isn’t the premise. It’s the execution. Multiple critics have flagged a first half that spends too much time on setup and not enough on payoff, which is exactly the kind of note that kills word-of-mouth in the crucial opening weekend.
Why Is the Haiwaan Box Office Number So Low?
A same-week clash with two theatrically stronger titles is doing real damage. Mirzapur: The Movie has been pulling in the bulk of single-screen and multiplex shows thanks to an existing fan base built over three seasons of the web series, while Hanuman Ansh is drawing the mythology-and-family crowd. That leaves Haiwaan fighting for leftover slots.
Bollywood Hungama’s trade coverage this week described the situation at single screens as a genuine “deadlock,” with exhibitors forced to divide already limited shows between three films instead of backing one clear winner. In that kind of scrum, a film with soft reviews and no pre-release buzz cushion tends to lose out first — and that’s precisely what’s happening to Haiwaan.
It’s worth noting Akshay Kumar’s filmography has swung wildly in recent years between franchise hits and mid-budget genre experiments that landed with a thud. Haiwaan fits the second bucket — a film without a built-in audience, released into a week where it had to compete rather than coast.
How Does This Compare to Recent Akshay Kumar Releases?
| Film | Genre | Opening Day Reception |
| Haiwaan (2026) | Horror-thriller | Weak reviews, sub-Rs 50 lakh opening (reported) |
| Previous mid-budget genre film | Thriller | Underwhelming opening, slow word-of-mouth build |
| Franchise/event release | Action | Strong opening on brand recall alone |
The pattern is hard to miss once you line up the last few years: whenever Akshay Kumar headlines an original, non-franchise story without a major marketing push, the opening numbers tend to be shaky, regardless of the film’s actual quality. Audiences increasingly show up for a known property first and a star name second — and Haiwaan didn’t have either working fully in its favour this week.
Original Angle: The “Slow-Burn” Trap in Hindi Horror-Thrillers
Here’s the pattern worth naming plainly: a string of recent Hindi horror-thrillers, Haiwaan included, keep mistaking a slow first half for tension-building. Reviewers this week used almost identical language — “takes too long to thrill” — which suggests writers rooms are still leaning on atmosphere over incident in the first 40 minutes, a structure that used to work when audiences had fewer options and more patience.
That’s no longer true. With three releases splitting the same weekend, an audience member deciding between Haiwaan, Mirzapur: The Movie, and Hanuman Ansh isn’t going to gamble on a film reviewers say drags. They’ll pick the one with the least perceived risk. That’s a marketing failure as much as a script one — nobody sold Haiwaan’s premise hard enough, early enough, to earn that benefit of the doubt.
What Happens Next for Haiwaan?
Unless reviews turn sharply positive over the weekend or the film finds a second wind through word-of-mouth on specific scenes, the usual trajectory for a film in this position is a quiet exit from theatres within one to two weeks, followed by an early move to a streaming platform. That’s been the pattern for most mid-budget horror-thrillers that opened soft against bigger competition this year.
- Day 1: Reported sub-Rs 50 lakh collection, weak critical reception.
- Weekend: Likely marginal growth only if reviews improve or word-of-mouth kicks in.
- Week 2 onward: High risk of a sharp drop given the ongoing screen-share fight with Mirzapur: The Movie.
FAQ
What is Haiwaan’s box office collection on day one?
Early trade estimates suggest the Haiwaan box office opening is struggling to cross Rs 50 lakh nett, though final numbers typically get revised once late-night show data comes in.
Who stars in Haiwaan?
Akshay Kumar leads the film in a horror-thriller setup, according to the release’s promotional material and early reviews.
Why is Haiwaan struggling at the box office?
A combination of mixed reviews criticising slow pacing and a crowded release week — clashing with Mirzapur: The Movie and Hanuman Ansh — has left Haiwaan with limited screens and soft opening-day numbers.
Is Haiwaan worth watching in theatres?
Early reviews are mixed, with most critics pointing to a promising premise let down by a sluggish build-up in the first half.
What films is Haiwaan competing with this week?
It released the same week as Mirzapur: The Movie and Hanuman Ansh, both of which are reportedly cornering the bulk of single-screen shows.
Conclusion
Haiwaan’s opening-day struggle isn’t just about one film missing the mark — it’s a snapshot of how unforgiving a crowded release week has become for anything without a built-in fan base. Whether it recovers now depends entirely on if audiences decide the back half delivers what the reviews say the first half didn’t.